A ROAD TRIP IN
AOTEAROA
Maori legend says that Piopiotahi was created by the demi god Tu-te-raki-whanoa who cut great gashes into the mountains with his toki (axe) and made waterways with his blow.
Legend also says that a hero named Maui was killed by the goddess of death while trying to win immortality for mankind. After Maui’s death, she released sandflies, called te namu or little devils, in an attempt to keep people away from this beautiful place. She feared the landscape created by Tu-te-raki-whanoa was so glorious that people would want to live there forever.
Maui’s partner, an extinct native bird called piopio, flew to the fjord to sing and mourn the loss of Maui and gave its name to the place.
PIOPIOTAHI
Maori legend says that Aoraki and his three brothers were the sons of Rakinui, the Sky Father. While on a sea voyage, their canoe overturned on a reef. When the brothers climbed on the top of their canoe, the freezing south wind turned them to stones. The canoe became the South Island (Te Waka o Aoraki), Aoraki and his brothers became the peaks of the Southern Alps.
AORAKI